Beibut Shumenov Relinquishes World Cruiserweight Title, Retires from Boxing

Beibut Shumenov has officially retired from the sport of boxing, citing a career-ending eye injury as the impetus behind the decision.

Shumenov (17-2, 11 KOs) fought for his native Kazakhstan in the 2004 Olympics and had a solid pro career. After coming up short for the WBA light heavyweight title against Gabriel Campillo in August 2009, Shumenov nabbed a split decision win in the immediate rematch five months later. He defended the belt five times before losing it to Bernard Hopkins three years ago.

In his last outing back on May 21, 2016, Shumenov knocked Junior Anthony Wright out in the 10th to capture the vacant WBA cruiserweight title.

Shumenov was slated to face Yunier Dorticos on April 29 in Las Vegas, but he suffered an eye injury during a sparring match and had to have immediate surgery, but it unfortunately wasn’t enough to salvage his career.

“Mr. Beibut Shumenov has a serious ocular issue, a recurrent corneal erosion of his right eye, that with continued fighting, puts him at risk for permanently losing his eyesight,” read a letter to the WBA from Dr. Kent L. Wellish, an eye surgeon who worked on the Kazakhstani. “It is my medical opinion that he should permanently refrain from sparring, training and boxing due to the severity of damage to his eye and the high risk of further damage of vision impairment, including the possibility of permanent vision loss.”

Shumenov then released an official statement announcing not only that he is relinquishing his WBA cruiserweight title.

“I have regrettably relinquished my WBA cruiserweight title and retired from boxing because of a traumatic eye injury suffered the week before my last scheduled fight,” Shumenov said. “I'm extremely disappointed my boxing career has ended like this but, unfortunately, injuries are part of this sport and there's nothing I can do about it. I still have blurred vision and I need to have an additional surgery next month to try to further repair so I don't risk blindness in my (right) eye.”